The Mystery Behind The Elite Shadow( REMADE)
by Shadowassassin reborn
Summary: I am not really good with summaries never was but here we go... in 2030 a murder takes place in the city of berk. the person who did it is a mystery read to find out who is behind the elite shadow. remember this is a redo of the original
1. Chapter 1

**Beta'd by Blackberry Avar.**

Big thanks to Blackberry Avar for the help with this first chapter.

A man fled from an alleyway as if the devil himself was chasing him. He very well might have been. Behind him a black figure loped effortlessly, gaining ground with every step that he took. With a scared glance the man looked behind him, only to see that his pursuer was not there. Just to be safe, the man kept running.

Until someone impaled his stomach with a black and red katana. He looked up, only to see blood red, dark eyes staring back at him as the rest of the figure stepped into the light. It was human, having no extra protrusions to mark it as a demon, though they didn't exist.

A full suit of what appeared to be cybernetic armor, complete with black, sleek pauldrons on the shoulders and knees.

Not wanting to die quite yet (or perhaps trying to go out with a bang), the man went for the uppercut. He only hit air, as his assailant had deftly flipped over him, removing the katana embedded in his stomach at the same time and unplugging the wound. The man began to lose blood.

The assassin let out a muffled chuckle and raised his arm. A faint red glow surrounded it just before the citizen was sent flying back, as though he had been pushed by some invisible force, before slamming into the door of a red Mazda, dead on his feet. There was no need to check the kill.

The assassin dropped a canister and a cloud of smoke burst from it until he was completely concealed from view. Then he slipped away.

No one noticed the body, amazingly, until almost an hour later, when a bar hopper walked across the street to his car, having decided that he had had more than he wished to drink. Upon seeing a person leaning dead against his car door he at first didn't see the blood and thought the man was joking, but when he approached him to wake up the joker he stepped in a pool of sticky red liquid.

He called the BPD.

"This is the Berk Police Department, what is your emergency?", the dispatcher asked.

"There's a guy slumped against my car and I think he might be dead." The bar hopper, Nathan, said, trying to fend away the panic.

"What's the address?"

"Um." The man looked up at the street sign, then couldn't help but give a tired laugh. "Shady Street and Shadier Avenue. You'll see it." He sat back onto the street curb.

The dispatcher decided to leave the address at that after he had verified that it was actually real.

"Okay. The police and an ambulance are on the way. Stay calm. Is there anything you can tell me about this man?"

"He looks like he was stabbed, once. And he's been thrown against my car. My door has been crumpled, so he must've been hit pretty hard."

"How long do you think he's been there? This could help the police with their investigations, so answer carefully."

"Not too long. His blood hasn't clotted yet. There's still a little.." and here he winced, "seeping out of the stab wound."

"Okay. Just stay calm and help will be on the way."

"I think I can do that."

Then he began to hear the first sirens approaching.

When the body and the citizen had been loaded up (the man had unfortunately already died by the time of the ambulance's arrival), the deputy detective decided that the citizen was innocent of the crime and was just scared. He still got a fine for being buzzed and intending to drive, although the it was reduced due to the circumstances.

With the murderer still somewhere out there and with the possibility of this kind of thing happening again they could take no chances. The BPD called in the FBI, or its Scandinavian equivalent at least.

After a little forensics they determined that the cause of death was mainly the stab wound, although more blood was lost when the man had been slammed into the car. DNA analysis found nothing, not even latex shavings on the man's clothing. The attacker had not made physical contact with the victim at any point during the attack. This was concerning, as the BPD and its associates had assumed that the man's attacker had used his arms to throw the victim, which was already concerning in and of itself. But this was a whole new can of worms.

 **Berk, the Presen** t.

"What was the cause of death?", an investigator asked the forensicist, who promptly closed his notepad and looked up.

"The main cause of death was stabbing along with impact damage to the chest and lower back which broke the man's spine. Most of his ribs are broken, along with small fractures in his pelvis and collarbone."

"Was there any other evidence on the scene? DNA perhaps?"

"You know as well as I that there we couldn't find any biological markers within a considerable area, but there's been a new development." The scientist adjusted his glasses. "A black canister was found only twenty feet away from the body. It looks to be a smoke grenade of some kind, though we're not absolutely sure how it works yet. It's quite fascinating really."

"Were there any markings or things like that, you know, serial numbers, anything to distinguish this thing from any other one?"

"We couldn't find any special markings on it, no, but there was a serial number." He turned over the canister. "S. 178. We have no idea what it means or what the S stands for at the moment, there's just not enough evidence for that, but we do have an idea of what its made of."

"What?"

"A very expensive aluminum carbon steel alloy. And the paint is military grade, very resistant to the elements. Finding missing supplies of this stuff isn't going to be easy, but it may be a lead."

"Thanks. That was all I needed to know."

Meanwhile, on top of a skyscraper, the assassin pressed a tiny green button on the back of his helmet. A beacon activated before he leapt off the building and fell before a pair of metallic wings opened from his sides, quickly arresting his fall and bringing him into a quick night glide, weaving between buildings until he felt something grab his back and pull him up **.**

 **"What took you so long Shadow. Or should I say, S. 178.",** the assassin asked his robotic dragon, feeling rather annoyed.

"The CIA was trying to hack me for their own benefit, as usual. I fended them off with extra firewalls while concealing my nature from them. They get smarter every day it seems. Sometime soon you must upgrade my security protocols. I am not as skilled in coding as you."

"Good.", the assassin grunted. "Take me to the Shadow lands. Low altitude."

"We will be there in 1 hour, 14 minutes and 31 seconds by the time I am finished speaking." The dragon dropped closer to the ground and engaged its boosters.

"Ugh. How many times do I have to remind you to not be so exact?"

"Precision is a necessity, as a certain someone once told me.", said the dragon, and one could've sworn that it was smirking, though he could not see his face.

The assassin only grumbled under his breath.

Shadow and the assassin both landed through a gap in the roof of an abandoned warehouse. Shadow automatically paused and began the process of recharging its batteries without a command. The assassin merely walked on through the chaotic streets of the place.

The shadow lands had once been a populated district jam-packed with honest citizens, but had long since been evacuated due to a raging Ebola epidemic. Since then the officials had never bothered to clean up the place, and it now served as a motley home to gangsters, drug lords and murderers of the worst sort.

Soon he arrived at a bar called the Red Dragon, though when he entered almost all the occupants stopped and gave him a dirty look before going back about their business.

The assassin ignored them and walked into a back room, where a man in the most cliché black trench coat ever was sitting on a chair.

The room was dirty, salty, smelly, and had a few… nondescript odors, but to the assassin it smelled like home.

"I assume you've killed your target, Sleek. Do you have the proof?" The client asked, while lighting a marijuana roll.

"Yes." The exposed assassin nodded his head before showing a holographic display of him killing the man asked for **.**

"Want a light?"

"No thanks. I don't smoke. It's not good for the lungs."

The client chuckled and put the cigarette to his lips, before drawing a long puff.

"That's good enough. You will find the money in your account. It's coin. I'll have a new target for you in a few days."

" **c** oin?", and here the assassin expressed mild surprise. "That stuff's rare."

"Yep. Business is booming' around here, and I thought I'd make a few investments."

"I prefer gold and silver personally. Not as traceable."

"They still haven't cracked the blockchain though. coin will be a thing for another thirty years. Too bad all the banks failed at making the stuff. Stupid eggheads couldn't even stop two financial crises in only over twenty years."

"Yeah."

"I'll see you around, but I gotta skedaddle pretty soon. There's some unfinished business that needs my attention. See ya Haddock."

And with that he left, not even stopping to tip the bartender. The assassin left not a few minutes later, having paused to imbibe a glass of light liquor.


	2. Chapter 2

" **Beta'd by Blackberry Avar. I have computer expertise.**

"The next day, somewhere in the Shadow lands. Another abandoned warehouse, actually, which the duo had re-purposed and turned into a temporary base.

""Hey Shadow!" The Assassin yelled over his shoulder.

"Yeah?"  
""Come on over a second, I need to upgrade your gear."

""What kind of upgrades?" Asked Shadow as he walked over.

;""I'm gonna be doing an upgrade to your software real quick, but only after I've replaced some of your hardware."

""My targeting drive."

""Yep. And just about everything else too. And I might switch you over to analog for a couple days until I can write a hard counter for those pesky CIA."

"Shadow snorted, one of his favorite expressions even though he was a robot. "The Central Intelligence Agency is rather annoying, but I can still defeat them any day of the week."

""Pride comes before a fall.", Sleek said, then, "Open up, I'm going to need to see your electronics."/p  
"Shadow went into a semi-shut down mode and retreated to his core memory drive, and his body slumped down slightly, though he could still hear what the Assassin was saying. While he was doing this, his 'head' split into four parts and some of his central parts became exposed./p

"Sleek fiddled with some screws and detached several copper pipes, pulled out a black, metallic box, then pressed a button. The case, for that was what it was, popped open with a hissing sound, revealing the motherboard, which was several layers deep.  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Mm. This doesn't look too good." The assassin pulled out several electronic parts which looked substantially blackened. "I don't know what you were doing to bust your motherboard up so much but this really doesn't look good. Looks like you blew some fuses."

;"He peeled off another layer. "And what did you do to your CPU? It looks like you've melted a pin! This is going to need a good fix. Pesky CIA indeed. They're getting better than I thought."

"He grabbed another part from Shadow's head and gave a smooth pull. Another case slid out and he popped that one open too, then threw away the circuit-board inside before replacing it with another, similar board and closing the case. This he put back into the dragon.

;""Sorry bud, but I'm going to have to switch you back to analog. It'll make you harder to hack.", Sleek said. "Now where did I leave that custom board?" He began to look through some of the hardware on one of the dinky shelves.

""Aha! Here it is." Sleek triumphantly pulled a red and black motherboard out of an unorganized stack of keyboards and components. "I don't even know why it was in there I really need to get all this stuff organized.  
"He put it into the original case and, with much fiddling, plugged it back into Shadow, then tapped away on a display on his cybernetic arm.  
"Shadow's head merged together again and his eyes flashed several times before settling into a solid amber-red.

""System restarted, powering up. Warning, motherboard semi-incompatible. Core upgrade required." Shadow announced unemotionally. "It always feels weird to have my head split into so many pieces." he said after a pause.

"Brrr."

""I can't get an upgrade right now, I've got some business to attend to." Sleek said before walking to the warehouse door and pressing the up button for the garage door. Once it started to open he jogged back to Shadow and hopped up onto the dragon's wings before settling on his dorsals./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Up up and away!" Sleek called out, and they took off, the warehouse doors closing behind them as they cleared the entrance.

"The journey to town was routine, so Sleek did not feel the need to use the boosters. Soon they approached the bar where they had been before.  
""Drop me." said Sleek./p  
""What the..? Oh. You crazy bastard."  
;"Sleek only chuckled and engaged his wing-suit prematurely. They approached the jumping off point quickly and without being noticed. The assassin jumped off with an overly stylish back flip, spread his wings, and glided down without a sound until he landed just in front of the sliding doors, which opened for him just as he stood up and retracted his wing-suit. Nobody moved as he strode into the back room for another target. 

* * *

**Berk, the Present.**

The investigators returned to the scene to see if they could find any more clues. One of them looked up.

""Hey guys! Its a camera."

""How the heck did no one notice that before?" Asked the man in charge.

""I don't know, but I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Somebody get that camera down and we'll see if we can get some footage of our unknown assailant."

* * *

 **"The BPD HQ, Debriefing Room.**

"A group of SWAT members filed into the room. It had four faces. Astrid: group specialist and team beauty queen. Steve: Otherwise known as Snotlout. The team's brawn, he also was a bit of a meathead. Fishlegs: Nobody knew any other name for him, but he was an extremely intelligent technician and knew practically everything about everything. And finally Hiccup: Team sniper, also extremely intelligent.

""Good morning. Please take a seat." said the deputy head. His name: Stoick. "You all know the risks.", he said once they were all seated. "But you have volunteered in the face of potential injury and death. Remember, this mission is optional. Should you choose to go back now, I will not stop you. Do you wish to continue?"

"The SWAT members nodded as one.

""Pain, love it." Hiccup whispered under his breath.

""Who let him join? I didn't see him on the mission roster." said Snotlout.

""The last guy got cold feet and decided not to go. He stepped up because we needed another technician who could do the dirty work."  
;""Okay."

;""Hush.", said Fishlegs. "He's about to start."

;""The mission is to infiltrate this area." An image showed up on the screen. "The government is working together with the BPD to keep tabs on the Shadow-lands. We need you four to infiltrate the outlaw systems and see who holds power there, if anyone actually does. You are also tasked with finding any underground facilities there. You will be hot dropped into the area and operate with only minimal radio contact except in case of an emergency. Any questions."

"They all shook their heads.

;""Extra information will be given to you in the study room. You will leave in four hours."

* * *

;"Sleek left the back room and took a seat at the bar. Once he had drunk more alcohol than he'd thought possible he left the Red Dragon and stumbled back to the warehouse, where Shadow caught up to him./p

""How'd it go Sleek?" He asked, not having noticed that the assassin was drunk.

""Just great. My next target is my father, that ugly S.O.B who left me here to die." he slurred, and promptly collapsed on the pavement


	3. fixed chapter

**Beta'd by Blackberry Avar. Made while listening to Love Runs Out by the one and only OneRepublic.**

A few hours later; BPD Special Ops, in the land where the dark Shadow lies.  
If someone had heard the small, nearly silent humming, they most likely would have assumed that some bug was buzzing around their heads, and promptly reached for a fly swatter. If they had bothered to look up for said annoying bug, if they looked close enough, they might have seen a tiny silhouette against the rapidly waning sky, and if they had looked even closer still (perhaps with binoculars), they would have seen that it was not in fact an insect, but a heli. Of course, no one did see the heli, except for a select few who noticed something in their peripheral vision and then never thought about it ever again, probably dismissing it as some sort of bug, or an annoying beetle of sorts.  
"But it was not a bug, nor was it an annoying beetle, or even just a normal helicopter. No, this was a stealth helicopter from you-know-where, the Berk Special Ops of course, who were on a secret mission into the Shadow Lands to recon the surrounding area and retrieve any available intel.

"We're approaching the drop gentlemen. Please check your parachute straps and secure your asses to your belaying lines." said a cheerful voice over the comm. Even though it was a stealth 'copter, and not particularly loud, they still had to use their headphones and mikes to communicate. Everyone in the cabin groaned, but especially Fishlegs, who always had problems with physical action and anything to do with jumping feet first off of anything, much less a helicopter. The mood was tense as everyone did final gear checks on their hardware.  
"Snotlout, Duo 2, looked ready to go, breathing with a calm, focused rhythm that belied his brawn. Astrid, who was Duo 1, field stripped her AK 5E machine rifle, the newest model of the popular gun. Everyone was equipped with at least pistols, all of them in large caliber, except for Fishlegs's, which was .32 ACP, but highly automatic and filled to the brim with FMJ's. Hiccup, Duo 4, stood stock still, controlling each and every one of his movements precisely and without making a single mistake. To the casual observer, he would have looked almost frozen. Only those who knew him could see that he was nervous.

;"On his back was an imported Barrett M82, shipped straight from the Americans as part of their weapon exchange agreement with their country. In his hands was an AK-5B marksman rifle, modified to carry a longer barrel and one of the new flip-out scopes; at his hip was a Glock 31. His companions were similarly armed.

"Three miles to the the drop point. Hold on to your hats." Announced the pilot, without any trace of emotion whatsoever. Obviously he wasn't new to this gig. "Opening the doors in three. One, two, three!" The co-pilot pulled a red lever and the sides of the heli unlatched with a pneumatic hiss, jerking once, twice, and then retracting into the aluminum fuselage. The buildings of a dilapidated town rushed past the new window, and air blew ferociously around the cockpit, nearly knocking Hiccup off his feet. He stumbled and recovered his balance.

"Two miles to the drop point. We'll be there in a minute and a half. Is everyone alright back there?"  
"Green," said Astrid. "No problems," said Snotlout. "I'm not afraid at all. Show me some enemies." "Everything checks out.", replied Hiccup. Fishlegs simply said, "Affirmative."

"Alright. You have one minute until you're supposed to drop. Beginning parachute climb now."

"Roger that." said the co-pilot. "Rotate." The tempo of the heli blades increased as the stealth 'copter pulled up and began to gain altitude. "There's no turning back now. Helmets on.", ordered Duo 1, adjusting her straps at the last moment. Astrid. "You can only use your codenames from here on out."

"Affirmative." said Duo 3, still a little nervous.

Hiccup, now officially Duo 4, slipped on his helmet. It clicked onto his armor with a whir, and instantly the HUD lighted up. It displayed his ammo count and his squadmate's locations, as well as their current combat condition through SQUADMED. They were all in the clear.

"Ready?" asked Duo Leader.

"Ready!" they chorused.

"Let's go Duo Team!"

"Jump!" said the pilot.

"Astrid went first, followed by Snotlout, then Fishlegs, and lastly Hiccup. The air rushed past his ears as he counted to fall before grasping the ring of his ripcord and pulling it free. It was a low height drop, and exactly twenty-three point seven seconds later he landed on the roof of a crumbled brick house, unaware that he was being watched by a hidden camera.

In a secret warehouse, a hand swiped through a holo-tablet, which updated, showing a map of a very specific area.  
"Two miles to the base. Stay frosty." a voice ordered. "And whatever you do, don't let them know we're here unless I say so. We don't want them to come investigate. The last thing I want right now is a firefight."

Shadow looked up, a purely organic gesture, but one that he highly enjoyed. A peripheral process in an external network had informed him that the recently dropped Special Ops team (he had seen their badges, tiny, but there) had regrouped and was heading their way, probably carrying an energy scanner, or enerscan for short. It was too close for comfort. He decided to tell The Assassin.

"Sleek. I've detected that the Special Operations team we saw earlier is coming in this direction, possibly with an Enerscan. Got any ideas?"  
The Assassin paused in the middle of his task and faced Shadow with interest. He flipped up his welding mask, which he had been using to prevent eye damage.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Then we have no time to waste. We need to shut down all the power in this facility and hope they don't notice us. Hold on while I put away this welder and then cut the power. I'll handle the generator cooling system."

"Once he had stowed away the electric welder Sleek raced over to the main computer console and began typing on the holo-keyboard, estimating detection ranges and power-down times. Assuming that he still wanted some emergency power, Shadow turned off everything that was nonessential, including the lights. Now they were bathed in darkness. Only the red glow of Shadow's eyes and the brighter blue glimmer of the holo-table remained.  
"Okay. I've shut off all the outer weapons and shifted the inside turrets to guard mode. Everything is as it should be. Now we just have to hope that whoever it is doesn't come knocking on our door. Hold on while I go open the valve for the chemical cooling system." and with that he trotted over to an open stairway and descended down it. Presently the sounds of a rusty crank being wrenched could be heard, and a loud creak rattled the warehouse before there was a bang and a reverberation, presumably the steel door hitting the wall and stopping dead. There was the peculiar sound of water rushing through a pipe, which continued for a moment, and then all was still.

Whoever it was would not be able to see them now that the power had been shut down, but then again, they would not be able to see the intruders. Sleek's entire plan revolved around the Special Ops team not finding them. Hopefully it would be enough.

 **Meanwhile; The Shadow Lands, Berk Special Ops Team, Duo 4**.

"The team had just regrouped and was walking down the street, clearing buildings as they went. There was an eerie silence, broken only here and there by the raucous calls of drunken speech or the lound bangs and skittering rasps of smashing bottles, but these faded away quickly.  
Hiccup felt uneasy. It was a sniper's instinct, a good sniper's anyway, to know when they were being watched. He was being watched right now. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up ever so slightly, and he itched to jump into cover. He compulsively checked his AK 5M. It was in tip-top shape, almost as if straight from the factory, but his hands itched for his Barrett.  
Duo Leader and Duo 2 stepped out of a building seperately. "Clear." They kept walking, running across an intersection where they encountered the end of the block; covered by Duo 4's rifle. Then, and only then, did he cross.

Suddenly Fishlegs stopped.  
"What is it Three?" asked Duo Leader.  
"I've picked up an energy reading on my Enerscan, but it's disappeared. There was also a light thermal reading, but it looks like it's dissipated." That settled it for Hiccup.

"Guys, I think we're being watched." he said.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello users of fanfiction its shadowassassin755 my story The Mystery Behind The Elite Shadow is now being given to Black Berry Avar he or she will continue the story with my colaberation ...somewhat. the reason for this is because I believe some body who us clearly better at literature can make the story better then it original was

Big thanks to black berry avar it will be named something else of course, pleas follow and favor black berry agar as well as leave reviews.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Shadow Lands; Berk Special Ops Team Duo.**

"The others tensed, fighting the instinctual urge to be hasty. Haste led to mistakes, mistakes led to failure, failure led to loss. They were an elite kill-team, they would not lose. Not if they could help it.

""Get to cover." said Astrid over the comm. DuoLeader. Cassie was her nickname. "We'll talkthere."

"They moved in the practiced manner which they had learned at boot camp, slipping into an abandoned house through the back porch. Duo Leader went first, followed by Snotlout, who was Duo Two. Fishlegs, Duo Three, followed, covered by Hiccup and his trusty marksman rifle. That made Duo Four, the last member of the team. He hopped silently over the threshold and ducked between the rifles carried by the rest of his squad.

;""Where did the signals come from?" asked Duo Leader. "These things are directional, yes?"

""They are, to a limited extent." said Fishlegs. "What I can tell you is that the signal came from somewhere between the compass bearings three-fifteen and three-sixty, abouttwo and a half klicks distant. This is still new tech, mind you. The device gives up some directional performance so it can see thermals."

""Basically northwest," said Duo Two. Snotlout. "Whoever it is doesn't want to be seen. I think we should head straight for their base and see what they're up to."

;""They could be dangerous," said Astrid. "They have the tech to conceal themselves from a military grade Enerscan."

;""Or they could've turned off their generators." said Duo Three. "There's not much danger in that."

"Duo Four broke into the conversation.

;""Whoever we detected knew we were here as soon as we dropped and took measures to avoid being seen. If it hadn't been for Threehere we wouldn't have known there was anyone in the area worth our notice. An organization with that kind of power out here could have valuable intel."

"Fishlegs perked up at that, feeling the praise.

""However," continued Hiccup, "This group poses the most direct threat to us. They know, or knew where we are, or were, and we only have a general idea of their location. If we go straight to them they will hold all the advantages, not to mention we'll probably be heading into a trap. I propose that we circle around their last known position and gather intel."

;"Duo Two took it in stride.

;""Furthermore, we don't know if the unknown is in a stationary building or possesses a way to move without setting off our Enerscans. There are too many risks for us to rush in half-cocked."

;"Duo Four rarely spoke, but when he did his word was nearly law. In military matters he had wisdom beyond his years; and although his private life was something of a mess, he nearly always found order where it was least expected.

;"Astrid considered her options. "Duo Four's idea is tactically sound, if predictable." she said. "I'm making a temporary modification to our Rules of Engagement. Duo's Two and Three, do not fire unless it's on my orders. The unknowns are to be considered as an enemy until I say otherwise, but avoid contact if at all possible."

;"She looked at Hiccup, made eye contact through their visors. "Four, engage at your own discretion. Stay quiet and don't shoot if you don't have to."

;"She swept her gaze over the rest of the squad.

"Am I clear?"

;""Crystal ma'am." replied the squad.

;""Good. Three, what are our options?"

;""Based on satellite scans of the area I can narrow down the probable location of the unknowns to about two or three square on my preliminary observations I can also find their most probable hideouts, assuming they're not underground, which is likely, considering that-"

;""That's enough Three," said Astrid. "How can we avoid their sensors on the ground? We don't want to be spotted again, or worse, run into an ambush."

;""Given that this is a low-tech area, I estimate that the unknowns will have only limited thermal detection and only one Enerscan, maximum, not a very good one at that. If we're careful we should be able to give them the slip, assuming we turn off our visor lights and runour weapons cold. My Enerscan should be able to detect any active sensors before they see us."

;""What about the passive ones?"

;""That's just a risk we have to

;""Alright. Three, I want a route in ten , stay here and cover the back of the building."

;"Snotlout nodded.

;""Four, go upstairs and sweep what you can see. I want status updates every minute. I'll get the front end."/

;"The four of them split up; Fishlegs moved to the center of the building while Astrid watched the front door. Hiccup moved up the stairs like a cat, found a window and perched behind it, his HUD keeping an eye out for any potential threats. There were none; even the alcoholicactivity was dying down this far from the more populous areas of the shadow lands.

"Hiccup allowed himself to snort. What a cliché name. He wondered which public official had come up with that. Probably a Secretary of the Interior. Those guys always had been pompous.

;""Do you think we should split up?" asked Snotlout over the comms after five minutes or so. "We'd cover more ground."

""And we'd be more vulnerable, Two." said Astrid. "No. Stick together. It'll make Three's job easier. Besides, we wouldn't be able to support you if our groups came under fire."

;""Yes ma'am." said Snotlout.

;"Several minutes passed. Hiccup calmed his breathing, calibrated his internal rhythm. He was nervous, but he did a good job of keeping it under control.

""Contact." said Astrid. "Bearing two-thirty-nine, my side of the house. He's got a pistol on his hip."

;"A second's pause.

;""It's only a drunkard."

;"A red circle appeared on the side of Hiccup's visor, but quickly changed to greenish-yellow,the color that designated possible civilian threats.

;""Roger that." he said. "Moving to your side of the house Duo Leader."

;""No need."

;"Hiccup settled back into a crouch, still holding his AK-5M. He would rather use the Barrett but it was much too loud for a mission like this.

;"Another two minutes passed. "Done." said Fishlegs.

;""What's the route?" asked Astrid.

""I've isolated the six buildings that are most likely to contain our unknowns. Five of them are warehouses."

;""Just forward it to me please and stop wasting my time." said One. Fishlegs remained oblivious of her

"Give me a little time here – Good!"

A small, square shaped map popped into existence on Hiccup's HUD with a quiet beep. Ameandering dotted line zig-zagged up the left-hand side of the square until it almost reached the top, then wandered off towards the center. Six buildings were outlined in red along the general path of the line.

"It looked like a standard GPS guide from the early twenties; flat and dully colored.

;""Does this thing have three-D capability?" asked Hiccup. "I can't see my firing lanes when the map is a pancake."

;""Use your gauntlet's A-R-S. That should work." said Fishlegs.

;"Hiccup frowned ever so slightly. Augmentedreality systems were clunky and hard to use. He switched off his comm mike with a button on his helmet before speaking into his internal microphone.

"Computer, activate ARS, right hand only.

;""Affirmative." it said pleasantly, and a small indicator appeared at the edge of his visor showing that the system was powered on and working as usual.

;"Hiccup twisted his glove and a blue cursor flittered about on his visor. He moved his arm and the little triangle followed his movements until it settled on a corner of the map. The sniper clenched his fist and rotated the guide until it was at a forty-five degree angle.

"Satisfied, he tried to minimize it with the flick of his finger. The attempt missed, and he tried again. This time it did work.

;""Computer, deactivate A-R-S." said Hiccup.""Affirmative." it said in the same pleasant voice. He turned on his outbound comms again, rejoined the conversation.

""Let's move out." said Astrid. "We're not here to dawdle

;""Yes ma'am!

Final chapter on my account the rest will be on black berry avars


End file.
